One of the most exasperating qualities of Barack Obama is his insistence on casting himself as a victim when people disagree with his policies. It’s bad enough when he does it at home, but last week he tried it on the foreign stage — and made a jackass out of himself. When asked to explain why Israelis don’t trust him, he implied it’s because Israelis are bigots:

During the interview Wednesday, when confronted with the anxiety that some Israelis feel toward him, Obama said that “some of it may just be the fact that my middle name is Hussein, and that creates suspicion.”

I guess President Obama must have slept through the briefing when his staff informed him that Israel and Jordan have a peace agreement approved by then-King Hussein of Jordan. Maybe his Secretary of State should have reminded Obama; after all, it was her husband that helped negotiate it.

Instead of dealing with the reality of the snubs Obama has delivered to Netanyahu and the fumbles he has made on issues like construction in Jerusalem — which Obama personally transformed from a minor issue into a showstopper — Obama would rather like people to believe that everyone who has a criticism of him does so on the basis of his background. It’s tiresome and amateurish, and in this case, an insult to the feelings of the Israelis and to the intelligence of everyone else.

Got an Obamateurism of the Day? If you see a foul-up by Barack Obama, e-mail it to me at [email protected] with the quote and the link to the Obamateurism. I’ll post the best Obamateurisms on a daily basis, depending on how many I receive. Include a link to your blog, and I’ll give some link love as well. And unlike Slate, I promise to end the feature when Barack Obama leaves office.

Illustrations by Chris Muir of Day by Day. Be sure to read the adventures of Sam, Zed, Damon, and Jan every day!